Dante
Dante is the fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry series. The character and the Devil May Cry series are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over five million copies worldwide as of 2007 and currently spans four video games. Dante has been featured as the main protagonist in the first three games of the series and is a playable character in some missions in the fourth game. The character also appears in several Devil May Cry novels and manga volumes, and is featured in a 2007 anime. Profile Dante is a mercenary dedicated to exterminating demons, a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed his mother and corrupted his brother. He is the son of Sparda, a demon of great power that rebelled against the demon emperor and defeated his army. As a result of his demonic heritage he possesses numerous superhuman abilities which he uses in combination with a variety of weapons to accomplish his goals. Created to fit Hideki Kamiya's vision of a "cool and stylish" man, his personality was based on the titular character of manga series Cobra. Dante is a mercenary who specializes in paranormal cases, of course, preferring those that call for demon slaying. Dante is one of the twin sons of Sparda, a demonic knight who chose to side with humanity and drive back an invasion of the human world by demons 2000 years ago. After Sparda's death, Dante and his brother Vergil were raised by their human mother, Eva. When Dante and Vergil were still children, the family was attacked by demons, resulting in Eva's death. This event lead to Dante's commitment to hunting demons in pursuit of those that killed his mother. Conception Dante debuted in Devil May Cry, a game originally intended to be Resident Evil 4. Dante is confident in his encounters with opponents, and frequently taunts boss characters before battling them. In terms of gameplay, while survival horror players (and characters) must ration supplies like ammunition, solve challenging puzzles, and evade large groups of enemies to advance through the game, Dante has few of these restrictions. Dante's ammunition is unlimited, puzzles are simpler, and battling groups of enemies is the game's main focus. Series' creator Hideki Kamiya based his idea of Dante on what he perceived as "Stylish" -- with a long coat to make the character "showy", witty like a "British guy", and a non-smoker since Kamiya sees that as more cool. The character wears red, because in Japan it is a traditional color for a heroic figure. Characteristics Seeing as how his debut appearance was supposed to be a sequel in the Resident Evil series, Dante bears a strong resemblance to Leon S. Kennedy. Like Leon, he is tall and lanky, but with silver hair, usually seen wearing leather clothes. Dante's arsenal usually consists of firearms and melee weapons, including "Ebony and Ivory", twin handguns that never have to be reloaded, as well as a variety of swords. The guns are hand-made with "For Tony Redgrave, By .45 Art Works" written on them. He has supernatural powers, as a result of his half-demon heritage. This gives him the ability to enter a temporary transformation called "devil trigger". In this state, Dante possesses more speed, steady health regeneration, and further abilities with his equipped melee weapon. The character had been well received by gamers, and was often been listed as one of gaming's coolest characters. In 2010, however, an image of a newly-redesigned Dante resurfaced, baring little resemblance to his former look. The new Dante is featured in the DmC: Devil May Cry game, developed by Ninja Theory. This redesign puzzled and even outraged most fans, but Capcom has stated that the Dante look of old "is no longer considered cool anymore". All of this, of course, happened long after Hideki Kamiya's departure. Story In the original Devil May Cry, Dante is hired by Trish, a mysterious woman who looks similar to his deceased mother, to stop the return of the demon king Mundus. However, she is actually setting up events for Mundus' agents to kill Dante as he makes his way to Mundus himself. During the course of the game Dante is also reunited with his brother Vergil, who, under the control of Mundus, attempts to kill him. Trish eventually betrays Mundus to save Dante, and the pair work together to lock Mundus in the demon world. Afterwards, they become partners in Dante's demon slaying business, now re-named "Devil Never Cry" (although he eventually changes it back to its original name, "Devil May Cry"). After the success of the first game, Capcom immediately began development of its sequel, Devil May Cry 2. Hideki Kamiya, who directed the first game, was not involved in the sequel's development and the new creative team took a different direction. Dante's character was changed so that he spoke little, and his cocky attitude was largely absent. He also had a habit of flipping a coin to make his decisions. Set some time after the first game, Devil May Cry 2 focuses on aiding the character Lucia in defeating Arius, an international businessman who uses demonic power and seeks to conquer the world. At the end of the game, Dante must go into the demon world to stop a major demon from escaping, but the gate closes behind him and he is trapped. With no way back to the human world, Dante heads even deeper into the demon world on his motorcycle. There is an extra scene after the credits, in which Lucia is sitting in Dante's office when she hears a motorcycle outside and rushes out to see who it is. The third game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, serves as a prequel to the first game and features a younger and cockier Dante. While developed by the same team that did the second game, Devil May Cry 3 was much better received than the previous installment for staying true to the original. He has considerably more dialogue during cutscenes, and players can verbally taunt monsters during gameplay. In the story, Dante is drawn out by his brother Vergil, who is attempting to reopen the portal to the demon world in order to obtain the full power of Sparda, which remains on the other side contained within the sword Force Edge. Along the way, Dante encounters Lady, who is in pursuit of her father Arkham, who is working with Vergil but has plans of his own. In the end, Dante claims ownership of the Force Edge, while Vergil chooses to remain in the demon world. Dante matures considerably during the game and, inspired by Lady's courage and commitment to her own family, continues his demon hunting business with a greater sense of purpose. They become partners, and he decides to call his shop "Devil May Cry", after something Lady had said to comfort him. The next installment, Devil May Cry 4, produced by Resident Evil 4 producer, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, is the first game in the series not to feature Dante as the primary playable character. Dante is seen as an antagonist or antihero, at least at first, by the game's lead character, Nero. In one of the trailers released, Dante literally crashes into a meeting of the Kyōdan Kishi (Order of the Sword) and kills their leader as well as several other people. This leads to a confrontation between Dante and Nero. Dante takes over as the player character in the second half until Nero is the PC for the final showdown. By the end of the game, Dante and Nero seem to have mutual respect. Weapons See Dante's weapons. Cultural impact Devil May Cry has been cited as the beginning of a sub-genre of action games called "Extreme Combat", which focus on powerful heroes fighting hordes of foes with a focus on stylish action. The game has also been described as being the first game that "successfully captured the twitch-based, relentlessly free-flowing gameplay style of so many classic 2D action games". The series has become the game against which other 3D action games are measured, with comparisons in reviews of games including God Of War, Capcom's own Chaos Legion, and Blood Will Tell. Dante's confident and fearless attitude have gained him widespread popularity. He was ranked third among the "Top Ten Coolest Video Game Characters" list of Screwattack. The popularity of the Devil May Cry series lead to a line of action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure. Other appearances Dante has playable appearances in several games outside of the Devil May Cry series of games. In the Viewtiful Joe series, also created by Hideki Kamiya, he appears in the PlayStation 2 version of Viewtiful Joe and the PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. Dante is also seen in the last panel of Jedah's ending in Capcom Fighting Evolution. He appears as an enemy and optional ally in the North American release of Nocturne: Shin Megami Tensei III. There is a Dante character card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter DS. The character was also set to appear in Soul Calibur III, but did not make the roster. He also appeared in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Onimusha Soul and Project X Zone. Alternate Costumes Throughout the series, Dante has not always worn only his trademark red leather coat. Other outfits for him can be obtained, as well. After beating the original game on Hard Mode, players can unlock the costume of Dante's own father, Sparda. After clearing "Dante Must Die" mode, Super Dante is unlocked. Super Dante's health regenerates as long as he is in Devil Trigger mode. In Devil May Cry 2, there are two extra costumes for him. One is his traditional look from the first game, unlocked by beating "Dante Must Die". The other, Dante in jeans, is unlocked by beating the game on Normal. In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, beating the game on different difficulties unlocks the following costumes: Easy - Shirtless Dante, Normal - DMC1 Dante, Hard - Sparda and Coatless Dante, and Very Hard - Super Dante and Super Legendary Dark Knight. Beating "Dante Must Die" in Devil May Cry 4 unlocks Super Dante. Five alternate costumes can be obtained in DmC: Devil May Cry. Beating the game on any difficulty unlocks Original Dante (meaning with his original black hair), clearing "Son Of Sparda" unlocks Dante's coatless look and lastly, Classic Dante (the look most fans seem to prefer), Neo Dante and Dark Dante were available as part of a DLC package. Gallery Image:DanteConcept.png|Concept Art Image:DMCDante.png|''Devil May Cry'' Image:DMC_Super_Dante.png|Super Dante Image:DMC2Dante.png|''Devil May Cry 2'' Image:DMC2Dante2.png|''Devil May Cry 2'' Image:VJDante.png|''Viewtiful Joe'' Image:VJRHR_Dante.png|PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble Image:VJRHR_Dante_Plasma.png|PSP version of Red Hot Rumble (EX color) Image:VJRHR_Dante_Sparda.png|PSP version of Red Hot Rumble (Sparda) Image:DMC3DanteConcept.png|''Devil May Cry 3'' Concept Image:DMC4Dante2.png|''Devil May Cry 4'' Image:DMC4Dante.png|''Devil May Cry 4'' Image:DanteDevilTrigger.png|''Devil Trigger'' Form Image:Dante.JPG|''Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'' Image:MarCap3Dante&Deadpool.png|With Deadpool in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Image:CapEvoJedahEnding.png|''Jedah's Ending in ''Capcom Fighting Evolution Image:NewDante.png|''Dante's New Look Image:DmCDante.png|''DmC: Devil May Cry Dante.png|''Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3'' Dante_DLC_13547_640screen.jpg|''Sparda Human Form>Devil Form'' (DLC - MvC3 Add-Ons Costume Pack 01) 56ae4db19a4561aa42f51f1177b8a9b2.png Image:Oni_Soul_Dante.png|''Onimusha Soul'' Image:Project_X_Zone_Dante.png|''Project X Zone'' External links *Dante at Devil May Cry Wiki Category:Devil May Cry Characters Category:Characters Category:Heroes Category:Under Construction Category:Living Characters Category:Male Characters